DAY 18 - Sunday 15 January - Tranquility found

DAY 18

SUNDAY

15 January 2017 –

Esperance – Cape Le Grand National Park

Well we know we are in a caravan park and not free camping, the noises of fellow campers keeping us up, though thankfully it went quiet by 930pm. The activity of those packing up and heading began at 6am. We did our best to ignore it.

Paul had been up a fair bit with a dodgy belly and was feeling crappy still when he finally decided to get up. It was a slow start, but we were still keen to get out and explore. No real plan had been sorted, Paul just needed to get out of the park and away from the hordes.

With the car packed we headed to Cape Le Grand National Park. Lucky Bay had been mentioned as a must see by a colleague so we made that our destination. The national park is about 50km from Esperance. On the road there you pass the Esperance “Stonehenge” that can be seen from the road. It is a scaled version and at $10 and adult, I would say not worth stopping for.

The park costs $12 to enter for the day, once you receive your ticket you are free to roam. Many of the tracks are 4wd only, so we were going to miss some treasures but it didn’t bother us. Lucky Bay is a further 25km from the entrance. The road leads you past Frenchman’s Peak, a stunning rock formation that many were walking. It takes an hour and a half to reach the summit. I can imagine the view would be incredible. Another thing to add to the next time list. The capping rock at the top looks like a handle with a large opening.

The road winds its way through the low scrub affording glimpses every now and then of the spectacular views that await. As you ride the crest, the granite parts and Lucky Bay is there glimmering and beckoning you to stop and drink her in. 

We parked our car, grabbed our beach gear and made for the squeaky white sand, dodging the many 4wd that were driving straight onto the beach. It was a glorious day and the water sparkled and danced beneath the sunshine.

The bay itself reminded me of Boat Harbour in Denmark, with the number of people driving the rim, the colour reminded me of Greens Pool. With our bags dumped, thongs off, we were into the water. Well that was the intention, it was just a very slow immersion as it was so cold. Being surrounded by the multi-coloured explosion of blue sure helped ease us in.

After cooling off and having a snack, we walked the beach, watching it change from calm and inviting to a surf break across the middle. There were plenty trying their luck on a board to varying degrees. Once we returned to the car, we grabbed our lunch things and found a bench in the sun to eat our rolls. A lazy monitor lizard came out to say hi. He waddled across the sandy path before ducking back into the bushes. Glad he didn’t get any closer.

We returned to the car, heading back down the road. Moving in the opposite direction we were able to glance many other stunning views hidden from us when driving earlier.  We passed by Thistle Cove, which also looked stunning, before electing to head to Hell Fire Bay. This is another picturesque spot and one I think is better than Lucky Bay, as you can’t drive down onto it.

The water here is crystal clear and many and varied shades of blue, it is also very cold, but we were in need of a cool off so we braved it again. We then walked the length of the beach to the quiet end before returning to our things. I left Paul to sit on rocks while I walked up the rock face to check the view. Every angle here offers something different. From here I could see Frenchman’s Peak.

I returned to Paul where we dangled our feet in the water, cooling ourselves off before making the drive back to the park where Paul could have a rest, as he was still feeling poorly.

I loaded the photos onto the computer before deciding I needed to go for a walk, taking myself along the foreshore to the Tanker Jetty. Unfortunately it is closed to the public due to safety concerns, so I wandered the park attached to it and read about its history before wandering back and sitting outside to enjoy the coolness and watch life go by.

After dinner we took a drive to the jetty to see who was catching what. The night was warm and balmy, reflected in the pink cloud settling around the town. There were a few out trying their luck but nothing was biting, probably had a lot to do with the seal lurking through the waters waiting to take whatever the fishermen brought up. It was a tough night for all.